The Strength of Bonds
by TheAnimeFan0919
Summary: Shinji Ikari, pilot of Evangelion Unit-01 and...Persona user? Things are about to get even crazier in Tokyo-3. A retelling of Evangelion where Shinji realizes that the bonds which connect people to one another can change the world. -Contains elements from Persona 3 and Persona 4, starts after Ramiel fight-
1. The Awakening

Author's Notes: Well, I decided to start this instead of continuing on my Evangelion with SMT Nocturne elements fanfic. This is going to be Evangelion with Persona 3/4 elements instead.

Here's a list of all the significant additions:

-Social Links (Max Level is 5 instead of 10)

-Status (Academics, Charm, Courage and Understanding)

-Physical Status (Tired, Sick, Good, Great)

-Personas/Personae (Each Persona user can have up to 6 persona if they aren't of the Fool arcana; the Fool can have up to 12 personas/personae)

-Persona Fusion

-Persona Compendium (Summoning is free, unlike in the games)

-Fusion Spells (Extended use can change physical status)

-Enemies/Bosses from Persona 3 and 4(May be edited in some way and excludes Elizabeth, Margaret and Theodore for now)

Also: Things in _italics _are thoughts, while things in _italics that are underlined_ are a persona speaking to a character within their mind.

Anyway, enjoy this new fanfic!

I do not own Evangelion or any game mechanics or Persona(e) from the Persona games. They belong to Gainax and Atlus, respectively.

* * *

The Strength of Bonds

* * *

"The Awakening"

Shinji Ikari woke up on a rather bright day in Tokyo-3, having defeated the angel Ramiel the previous day. Trying to sit up, he felt pain flow through his body, his back hitting his bed soon after. Sighing, he once again tried to sit up and was eventually successful. He looked to his left and stared at the mirror in his room, which Misato had bought for him several days ago. He noticed that the scars from his battles with the angels were visible through his white shirt. Tapping his legs, he winced in pain when he tapped one of the scars hidden beneath his black shorts a little harder than he should have.

"I guess the injuries aren't too bad. I'll talk to Touji and Kensuke about them later." he said to himself as Misato slid his door open. Wearing her standard NERV attire, a red jacket and black sleeveless dress.

She smiled at him and then placed her hands on her hips. "How are you feeling, Shinji-kun? Tired?" Shinji nodded, and tried to get up off of his bed. Tilting his body, he placed his legs on the edge of his bed and tried to stand. Pain surged through his legs as he tried to stand, and he fell backwards onto his bed.

Misato sighed. "Well, you should get some rest for now, but when you're feeling better, you have to get to class." She pulled out her cell phone from pockets unknown and started dialing a number. "Before that, I'll speak with the principal and let him know you won't be going to class until after lunch, okay?" Shinji, still in pain, felt rather comfortable and quickly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

-Within Shinji's dreams-

* * *

Shinji looked around and stopped in front of a 4-story dormitory, which happened to be a shade of burgundy. Wearing a gray jacket, black pants and black shoes, he looked rather out of place standing before the dormitory. He started to walk to the dormitory's entrance when a young boy wearing striped black and white pajamas and sandals suddenly appeared before him. The young boy looked at Shinji, his blue eye that was not covered by his long black hair staring directly at him.

The boy finally spoke. "You're late. I've been waiting for you." Snapping his fingers, a document appeared before Shinji right out of thin air. "Now, before you ask, it's a contract. All it says is that you accept responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual document signing stuff." Shinji reluctantly pulled out a pen from his jacket pocket and signed the contract. Before Shinji could ask a question, the boy began to speak again. "No one can escape time or the flow of time. It delivers each and every one of us to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." The document Shinji had in his hand suddenly disappeared into thin air. "And so it begins." said the boy before disappearing into thin air, and suddenly, Shinji woke up.

* * *

-Katsuragi Apartment-

* * *

Eyes opening slowly, Shinji blinked and looked over at his alarm, which read 12:30. "Crap, I'm late for class!" Jolting out of bed, he quickly grabbed all the clothing he needed from his drawers and closet. Shinji rushed to the bathroom to take a very quick shower before getting dressed. Wearing his favorite pair of black slacks and a uniform shirt that wasn't well buttoned, he stuffed his feet into his shoes and flew through the door, ready to face the rest of the day...kind of.

* * *

-In Class-

* * *

Shinji was only late to his 4th class by 5 minutes, much to his surprise. Standing outside the door to the classroom, he slowly opened the door and walked in. At the sound of the door sliding open, the entire class turned their heads to look at Shinji. Shinji chuckled shyly and started to walk over to his seat. As he walked over to his seat, the building started to shake, causing many students to fall onto the floor, and nearly causing Shinji to trip on himself. Regaining his balance, he rushed over to the window to see if there were any cracks left by the shaking that would prevent him from getting home on time. What Shinji saw surprised him, and left him horrified.

Several floors below, a large black creature, similar in shape to wrestler, had started to climb the school building and was heading straight for him. "Holy crap!" he heard to his right, and standing there was Touji Suzuhara, fear visible on his face. The two teens moved away from the window, and several seconds later, the area where they had just been standing was turned into a pile of debris. The creature climbed into their classroom, and chaos ensued within the classroom. "Everyone, keep calm and exit as quickly as possible without blocking the doorway!" shouted the class representative Hikari Horaki, who quickly took control of the situation. Sending students out in pairs, she quickly emptied the class of all persons aside from herself, Touji and Shinji.

"Hikari!" screamed Touji, who rushed at her. Being rammed into by Touji's arm, Hikari starts to fall, to the floor, eyes closed. Touji, now standing where Hikari had stood moments before, was grabbed by the large black creature and was flung into the wall.

* * *

On the roof, Rei Ayanami had just notified Gendo Ikari of the situation and had requested that a squadron be dispatched to her location. Snapping her cell phone shut, she opened the door to the stairs and quickly ran, unable to describe the feeling welling up inside of her.

* * *

Hikari opened her eyes to the sight of Touji's body crushed into a wall. To her left, Shinji was on one knee, blood streaming down his right leg while his left arm swung freely, apparently dislocated. Shinji slowly, and shakily, started to stand. The creature, which had been thrashing about and destroying the rest of the classroom, turned its head and stared directly at Shinji. Roaring, the creature started to walk over to Shinji, ready to kill him. For Shinji, time seemed to slow down. _"If only there was someone who could help..." _he thought. Pain wracking his body, he knew his end was coming for him. _"They need someone's help...they need your help...please..." _he kept thinking, hoping that someone would appear and save them.

In that instant, he heard a voice. He looked around, but could not see anyone with a voice as deep as he had heard. Once again, the voice spoke to him, and he realized it was inside his head. _"Do you wish for power?"_ the voice said. He nodded to himself, and the voice replied. _"Thou art I. I am thou. Let us begin. The time is now!"_ Shinji looked up and noticed a card surrounded by blue fire floating down to him.

To his left, Hikari stared at the unusual sight: a card surrounded by blue fire floating down to the transfer student as if her were a person of special interest. Extending his hand out, the blank card stopped directly over his palm, and Shinji was surprised when the blue fire didn't burn him. He felt his lips move on their own as he started to say a word that would change his life. "Per." A circle appeared beneath his feet, with the image of a half-black, half-white mask within. "So." Energy began to flow out from within the circle, surrounding Shinji with light blue energy. "Na." The fire around the card began to glow wildly, and Shinji grabbed the card, which shattered like glass.

Behind Shinji, a figure started to materialize, much to Hikari's surprise. The figure fully materialized, a knight in blue draconic armor, the armor's plates seemingly made of scales. On the shoulder plates, two dark blue spheres replaced the scales. The helmet, similar to the head of a dragon, hid most of the figure's facial details aside from his glowing blue eyes. Slightly visible was a pony tail, teal in color. In the knight's hand was a sheath composed of dragon scales, and when the knight unsheathed the blade, it was revealed to be as black as the night.

* * *

Shinji smiled wryly and the blue dragon knight attacked the massive shadow-like wrestler creature. The creature, caught unaware stopped its advance, and screamed in agony as the knight slashed its arm off. Angered, the creature swung its other fist at the knight, who blocked it with his arm. Cleaving off the creature's other arm, the knight then jumped back. Feeling an intense amount of power flowing within demanding to be released, Shinji outstretched his arm directly in front of him and screamed out the knight's name, even though he hadn't known it prior to that moment. "Ryūjin!" The knight's glowing blue eyes started to glow even brighter, and then Ryūjin pointed his finger at the creature. A freezing wind appeared from Ryūjin's fingertip, turning the creature into a block of ice. Shinji, using his mind, commanded the persona to finish it off, and the persona did so, slicing the frozen creature into dozens upon dozens of ice shards.

Hikari stared at Shinji and the figure, who was now fading away as if he had never existed in the first place. Fading away completely, a card appeared in its place. The card slowly floated towards Shinji, and disappeared completely when it plunged itself into Shinji's chest. "I'm exhausted..." were Shinji's only words before falling into unconsciousness. Hikari rushed over to Shinji to see if he was okay, but fatigue caught up with her, and she collapsed.

Several moments later, Rei and the squadron that had been dispatched finally arrived, only to find Shinji, Touji and Hikari all lying on the floor, with Touji and Shinji badly wounded. Rei walked over to the shards of ice as the medic in the unit wrapped up all their injuries before prepping them for drop-off at the NERV hospital. Picking one up, she noticed that there were remains of a creature within. Staring at the other pieces, she realized that all the ice shards on the floor had been pieces of the creature she had seen today. _"What happened here?" _she thought to herself.

* * *

-?-

Shinji awakened, only to find himself in some sort of room within a corporate building that, in his opinion, had way too much blue. The bookshelves were blue, as were the dozens of books sitting there on the bookshelves. The table before him, which seemed to be a CEO's desk, was a lighter shade of navy blue. Sitting on a chair behind the desk sat a middle-aged man who had an extremely long nose. Unlike everything else within the room, his suit was pure black. Next to the man stood someone familiar. Wearing a blue sleeveless dress and blue heels, she seemed like a mystery to him, until her saw her blue hair and red eyes. Shinji stared at her. "R-Rei?" The young woman shook her head. "I'm Rei, but not the Rei that you know. I guess you can say...I'm your Rei's older sister." Shinji looked puzzled. "I'll tell you about it some other time. Anyway, just call me Eri." The man cleared his throat. "Well then. Now that introductions are over between you two...welcome to the Velvet Room."

* * *

Author's Notes Again: Well, I hope this turned out okay. Anyway, reviews are welcome =D

Also, if you've played Persona games and don't recognize the name Ryūjin from anywhere...well...that's because I kinda made him up...but...he's based on the Japanese dragon deity of the sea, in short.

* * *

...also, Shinji tracker:

Shinji:

Persona(e):

Ryūjin:

-Bufula(moderate ice damage to 1 enemy)

-Cleave(light slash damage to 1 enemy)

-Gale Slash(light slash damage to all enemies)

Current Social Links: None

Current Status:

-Rank 2 Charm(Unpolished)

-Rank 3 Academics(Above Average)

-Rank 1 Understanding(Basic)

-Rank 1 Courage(Timid)

Physical Status: Sick

Bosses Defeated: 1

Relationship Status: Single


	2. The Things That Weigh Me Down

Author's Notes: Well, this was rather interesting to write. Coming up with something completely new for this was...difficult. That's what it was. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Also, a few new additions:

-Social Links can't be permanently broken when broken, and can be fixed by Shinji reconciling with said person (unlike in Persona 3 and 4 where the links are broken permanently when you break them).

-A person can initiate the event to summon their Persona, but it requires two things: 1.) the potential, and 2.) they must have seen someone summoning a Persona. This will lead to a boss battle with their inner self.

and...

**Things in bold** mean that the shadow within someone is talking.

Furthermore, to the guest who asked what Arcana Shinji's persona is, it's explained within this chapter.

Disclaimer: It was in the first chapter, but I'll put it here as well. I do not own Evangelion, Persona 3 or 4 and any of their game mechanics. They belong to Gainax and Atlus respectively.

* * *

"The Things That Weigh Me Down"

The middle-aged man stared at Shinji. "Welcome...to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Mr. Ikari." Shinji stared at the middle-aged man who identified himself as Igor. "Just what am I doing in this room, uhm, Sir Igor?" Igor chuckled at the young man and placed his right hand directly above his left, which left his hands in a position to cover his mouth slightly. "Please, do not call me sir, as much as I liked it. More importantly, I have summoned you here from within your dreams. You are fast asleep in the real world."

Eri, a Rei look-alike in blue heels and a blue dress, looked at Igor, who nodded, and she materialized a large blue book. "Ikari-kun, this is Le Grimoire de Coeur." Shinji looked over to the book. Igor lifted his hand, as if signaling her to stop. "Mr. Ikari, do you know why you are here?" Shinji looked back at Igor. "No, not really. Uhm...why AM I here?" Igor chuckled once more and then, in an instant, a deck of cards sat upon his deck.

"This place...it exists between dreams...and reality, mind...and matter. It has been many, many years since we've had a guest." Waving his hand over the deck of cards, the card at the very top of the deck flew over to Shinji. "You signed a contract, did you not?" Shinji looked away from the card, which was now in his hand, and at the paper in Igor's hand. "What? How did you get that?" Igor blinked and began to read the contract. "The ones who have signed contracts are the only ones allowed to enter this place. Therefore, you shall be welcome, here, in the Velvet Room, where we shall help you hone your unique abilities and your latent potential." Shinji took all the information in quickly as Igor continued to speak. "The only thing needed of you is to abide by the contract and to take responsibility for your actions." Shinji looked over at Eri, who smiled at him, and then back at Igor. "I-I understand."

A key appeared before Shinji, bronze in color and similar to keys used in older homes. "Hold on to this." Placing the key in his pocket, he looked back to Igor. "You have awakened to your power. The one who heeded your call was Ryūjin. He...is your Persona. He is a manifestation of your psyche, and a mask that you wear when facing the trials and tribulations of the real world." Igor placed his left hand above his right hand. "You, Mr. Ikari, are of the fool Arcana. You are like the number zero, flowing with infinite possibilities, as is Ryūjin." Shinji blinked as Igor continued. "As you are now...your power is still weak, but it shall evolve as you create and deepen your bonds with others." Shinji looked at Eri. "That book...what is it?" Eri giggled. "We can't keep you here any longer, Ikari-kun, but when you do come back here of your own accord, we will tell you." Around him, Shinji noticed that the Velvet Room was starting to blur, and he heard Igor's voice as he awakened. "We will meet again..." and with that, Shinji Ikari had woken up.

* * *

-In NERV-

Shinji woke up to the sight of Rei Ayanami sleeping with her head on his chest. Blushing, he couldn't help but feel that Rei was acting like his wi-_"N-n-n-no, I-I shouldn't be thinking of something like marriage so early on in life. But she really is cute."_ Rei opened her eyes slowly to the sight of Shinji smiling at her, and she felt her face get warmer.

The sliding open of his hospital room's door caused Rei to jump and sit properly in the seat next to Shinji's bed. In came Misato, who looked extremely worried, eyes red and ready to burst into tears. "Sh-Shinji-kun? Y-You're awake?" Tears started to stream down her face. "Y-you idiot! You've been asleep for nearly a week! Ritsuko thought we had lost you!" Shinji looked over to where his wounds would be, but found that there was no trace of them. "Oh, get this. Ritsuko said that as she was treating you, your wounds started to heal to the point where they looked like minor cuts and bruises. That was without the advanced regenerative technology we have here at NERV." Shinji blinked, and chuckled slightly.

He heard his door slide open again, revealing Touji and Hikari, with Touji sitting in a wheelchair, each arm in a cast. "Shinji, you dog!" Touji said with a smile on his face as Hikari wheeled him into the room. "Been getting it on with Ayanami-san, right? Sorry about Miss Katsuragi disturbin' ya." Hikari bopped him on the head. "Sorry about that, Ikari-kun. Touji's been worried about you." Touji started to stutter, causing Misato and Hikari to laugh. Rei smiled slightly at the sight unknowingly. Hikari calmed down and continued talking. "Anyway, I'm being released today, and so are you. Well, that's what Doctor...uhm...Akagi said." Hikari stared at Shinji. "We'll talk about what I saw that day when we start up school again, okay?"

* * *

A sudden chuckle similar to Hikari's, malevolent instead of cheerful, was heard in the room. **"Oh? Why don't we talk about something even more important than that right now?"** said the voice. Turning around, the group saw Hikari, wearing a long, pink dress similar to one that a princess would wear. They looked over at Hikari, who was now next to Touji, and noticed that there were two Hikari in the room. "**You know, I hate being caged in. I hate being stuck inside this hospital. It's weighing me down. Hell, even being the class representative is weighing me down."** The group stared at other Hikari. "No...th-that's...that's not true..." Hikari was backing away from Touji now. **"I know what you're thinking.'Oh, Touji will free me from my cage!' Am I right? You want him to be your knight in shining armor? Look at what happened to him when he shielded you." **A tear flowed down Hikari's face. "No! Stop it! Stop talking about me like you know me!" The other Hikari chuckled. **"Don't you get it? I AM you. I know all about how you really feel. You want to be whisked away to a far off land by your knight in shining armor. You want him to take you away so you don't have to come back here and deal with the rest of the idiots in your class. You want him to rip your cage apart!" **Hikari continued to back away. "No...no! There's no way that you could be me! I wouldn't think that way!" Darkness surrounded the other Hikari. **"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! You said it! Now, I'm not part of you! Now...I'm me! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"**

Suddenly, the darkness engulfed the other Hikari, and just as quickly as it engulfed her, it dissipated. The entire room seemed to grow in size as the figure became more visible. Finally visible, the group looked on in fear at what they saw. Before them stood a giant creature similar to the other Hikari they had seen previously, but now she sat upon a throne compose of students that were struggling to hold her up. A black mask covered her face, with the Roman numeral for two inscribed on the top of the mask. Her right arm was covered in black armor, and a lance appeared in her left hand.

Suddenly, a cage appeared and fell from the ceiling, trapping Shinji, Misato, Touji, Rei and Hikari with the giant, inner version of Hikari. **"I am a shadow, the true self. Now then, my knight. Come whisk me away! Whisk me away to a place far, far away!" **Shinji reacted faster than anyone else expected him to, calling upon the power hidden within him for help. "Persona!" A blue card appeared before him, and he crushed it.

The blue dragon knight appeared, sword unsheathed. Misato, Hikari, Rei and Touji stared in awe at the tall, blue-armored dragon knight. Ryūjin charged at Shadow Hikari, who blocked it with her lance. **"Are you my knight?"** she mocked, and slashed at the persona, who was sent flying into the cage. Shinji also felt Ryūjin's pain, and grabbed his abdomen. "Damn it!" Outstretching his arm, he called upon Ryūjin's power again. "Bufula!" and once again, the card appeared before him, and he crushed it. The persona pointed his armored index finger at the shadow, causing a freezing wind to appear and blast the shadow. Shadow Hikari cringed as the freezing wind started to damage her. **"Something like that won't be enough to whisk me away from here!" **From the tip of the lance, Shinji saw a fireball appear. **"Overheat!" **The fireball traveled quickly to Ryūjin, who was flung hard into the cage and suffered major damage.

Shinji cringed as the pain started to become unbearable. Misato, Touji, Hikari and Rei could only watch as Shinji suffered, falling to one knee. As he suffered, he heard a voice in his head. _"It seems that the time has come for us to be of assistance to you. Our primary duty is to fuse Personae for you and record them within this grimoire, where you can summon them once again." _said a voice._"Now then, it is time. Use the power of fusion to summon another facet of you hidden within!" _Shinji stood up and noticed he had another blank card in his hand. Looking back at the people here with him, he smiled. "Don't worry. I can win this." He waved his arm in the air, summoning Ryūjin's card and allowing the blank card to float. A circle surrounded the cards. Waving his right arm in the opposite direction, the cards collided and became one.

The new card floated before him, and he crushed it, calling upon the power of the one within. "Izanagi!" Before him, a warrior cloaked in black with a silver helmet appeared. Izanagi summoned a large, black spear, and then opened his eyes, revealing them to be yellow. Outstretching his arm, thunder began to rain down upon Hikari's Shadow. The shadow began to writhe in pain, and then Shinji commanded Izanagi to take advantage this. Izanagi air-dashed over to the shadow and then slashed it in half. **"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" **The shadow made one last attempt to fight by launching its lance at Touji. Shinji quickly dismissed Izanagi. " Ryūjin!" he called out, crushing the card that appeared. The blue knight appeared, sword drawn, and slashed the lance in half. With that, the shadow had been defeated.

Shinji let out a sigh of relief until he saw that the shadow was still there, albeit in her original form. Hikari looked at it and tried to back away again. Shinji turned around and sighed. "Class Rep, I think...if you don't accept her, she'll go berserk again." Hikari stopped in her tracks and looked at the floor. "I-I...I don't like being held down by all the responsibility...sometimes, I wish someone would lift the burden off of my shoulders..."she said in a tiny voice. The shadow nodded and spoke to her. **"After becoming the Class Rep, you felt like your duties caged you in. In reality...we let the cage hold us in...and all we had to do to be free of it was to break through it with our own will." **Hikari smiled and walked over to the shadow. Embracing the shadow, she said "I understand. You're really me...aren't you?" The shadow smiled at her. **"Of course, princess." **The shadow winked at her and then disappeared. In her place, a figure appeared. Long black hair flowed in a non-existent wind, and her exotic skin really made her stand out among all the beings within the room, Wearing an elegant black dress and a black flats, she seemed truly elegant as she gently patted Hikari on the head. "I am Sati. I will always be watching over you and protecting you, princess." Sati smiled at Hikari. Turning into a card, Sati floated before Hikari, who hugged the card. "Thank you, Sati."

* * *

Hikari turned around to the people waiting for her, but her vision became blurry. Misato wheeled Touji over to Hikari as fast as possible, and Hikari collapsed, landing like a princess on Touji's lap. "H-hikari? H-hey? C-class Rep? Get up will you? Hikari?" Touji's face became plagued with worry until Shinji placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, Touji. I think she's just exhausted. It's not every day that a facet of your personality is manifested in a physical form." The room soon returned to normal: looking as it did before the shadow appeared.

Misato tapped her foot. "Shinji Ikari, you have A LOT of explaining to do when we get home. Got it?" Hearing this, Shinji paled for several seconds, and then sighed. "Yes, Mother." Misato blinked. "Did you just call me mother?" Shinji knew right then and there that he wouldn't be hearing the end of it from Misato and Touji.

* * *

More Notes: How was this chapter? Like it? Hate it? Tell me with a review :)

Now, some of you may be wondering where I got the idea for the shadow's dialogue, and where I got the idea for the shadow's appearance. The shadow's dialogue is based off of Shadow Yukiko from Persona 4, although modified in a way. Its appearance is similar to Shadow Chie from the same game, aside from the princess look and the lance...and the black armor. Honestly, for Hikari, I figured that she must get tired of being Class Rep every now and then. It's a lot of responsibility, and can be quite a burden. Who wouldn't get tired? So, I placed that in here, and hinted at her feelings for Touji.

Another thing to note is that any character that has a persona will be on the character tracker at below the second Author's Note.

One last thing...I added a mechanism for Shinji where he can use blank persona cards for fusion. Of course, these blank cards have personae within, but the card itself does not show an image or shadow of said persona. Where do the blank cards come from? They come from the infinite possibilities stemming inside Shinji.

* * *

Anyway...Character tracker:

Shinji Ikari

Personae:

Izanagi - Known Skills: Zionga (moderate electricity damage to a single enemy)

Ryūjin - Known Skills: Bufula (moderate ice damage to a single enemy), Cleave (light slash damage to a single enemy), Gale Slash (light slash damage to all enemies)

Physical Status: Tired

Status:

-Rank 2 Charm

-Rank 3 Academics

-Rank 1 Understanding

-Rank 2 Courage

Bosses Defeated: 2

Social Links: None

* * *

Hikari Horaki:

Initial Persona:

Sati - Known Skills: Unknown

Physical Status: Tired

Status:

-Rank 2 Charm

-Rank 4 Academics

-Rank 3 Understanding

-Rank 2 Courage

Physical Status: Tired


	3. Burdens and Death

Author's Notes: Don't expect too much from this chapter. It's just talking...and people dying. Did I mention people dying? No? Well, people die in this chapter. Also, there's a lot of talking, and therefore, there will probably be a boss battle.

Also:

Things that are underlined refer to a persona speaking.

More Also:

Note that Touji was injured a week ago during the first Shadow attack. You may ask how he was able to run in this chapter. Well, let's just say NERV stuffed his wounds with a liquid

they have that can make the body heal 20x faster, but it's experimental. It'll be around in later chapters, but for now, it won't be mentioned by the cast.

Disclaimer:(See first chapter)

* * *

"Burdens and Death"

Gendo Ikari watched the video footage of what transpired in Shinji's classroom a week ago within his office, alone. As the video ended, he felt a sudden chill in the room. He spun his chair only to find a man with 12 black, metallic coffins chained together on his back, standing before him. Gendo noted that the man was holding a sword he had never seen before. The man suddenly grabbed Gendo by the neck. "W-why are you doing this?" Gendo asked, but the man squeezed his neck tighter. The sound of a head falling onto the floor was unheard within the Commander's soundproof office. Blood dripped from the sword in the man's hand, and he soon dropped Gendo's headless body. A metallic helmet appeared above the man's head, and he roared. "You have received your punishment, Gendo Ikari." The man soon faded away, a card taking his place. The card disappeared from the room and into the soul of one Shinji Ikari.

* * *

-The Night Before-

Shinji Ikari opened the door to the Katsuragi apartment, only to find Misato sitting there, waiting for him with a beer in her hand. "So, Shinji-kun, do you mind telling me what the hell I saw?" Shinji sighed and set his bag down by the fridge. He sat down nervously. "Well, I don't know where to start. Well, I do, actually, but it'll be kind of confusing." Misato took a little sip from her can of Yebisu. "So, it started when I felt the school building shake a bit. I looked out the window, and I saw this giant wrestling-creature thing." Misato took another sip from her can. "Touji and I backed away, and then it climbed into our room and destroyed the wall. Everyone started to panic." Shinji took a deep breath and continued. "The Class Rep got everyone to calm down a bit and had them file out of the classroom rather quickly. Everyone left the classroom, aside from the Class Rep, Touji and I."

Misato put the can down gently. "I'll take a guess and say this is where things went to hell?" Shinji nodded. He lifted his hand up and looked at it. "That thing was about to kill her. Touji pushed her out of the way and got injured in her place." He made a fist. "It wanted to attack him again, and I tried to help him get up, but it flung me into the chalkboard. After that, it stopped caring about us for a bit and decided to tear the room up. During those moments, all I could do was hope that someone would save us." Misato placed her hand on his fist, and he smiled at her. "I stopped hoping that someone would save us, and instead, I started hoping for power to protect people. That's when the card appeared before me, and I received the power of Persona."

* * *

Misato took the beer and had more than just a sip. She silently walked over to the trash can and tossed it in. "Well, I guess I understand. It's not every day that someone I know becomes some powerful person with magical powers." A knock on the door interrupted Misato's train of thought. She walked over to the door and opened it. Before her stood a girl who looked similar to Rei, but wore a blue dress and blue heels. Behind the young woman was a tall man in a tuxedo with silver hair. "We would like to speak with Ikari-san." said the man in the tuxedo. Misato blinked. "Um, Shinji? Do you know these two?" Shinji looked at the pair, and then noticed that the tall man in a tuxedo looked eerily similar to Igor. "Yes, Misato-san. I should've let you know they were coming over."

Shinji took them both by their wrists and dragged them to his room. "What are you doing here?" Eri smacked him lightly with the grimoire. "We're here because we need to urgently speak with you about something." Igor straightened his tie as he spoke. With his tie straightened out, he looked more serious. "Now that we're here, I would like to notify you that we have sensed something wrong with your initial persona. It seems that he is a temporary persona who was summoned when you called for power while your initial persona was..not ready." Shinji blinked, dumbfounded by the information. "Can you repeat that? He's temporary?" Eri smacked Igor on the head this time and continued where he had left off. "It seems that when you performed the fusion with the blank card, you drew out the power of your true initial persona." She opened the grimoire and flipped to a certain page.

She handed the grimoire to Shinji. "That is your initial persona, Izanagi. His page appears to have changed, though." Shinji stared at the page, and noticed a few things were different. Izanagi mysteriously received the skills 'Bufula', 'Bufudyne', 'Tempest Slash' and 'Gale Slash'. Thinking back, he recalled that during his battle with Hikari's shadow, he was only able to call out one attack from Izanagi: Zionga. Eri pointed to a section of Izanagi's page called 'Resistances and Weaknesses'. "When I originally looked at this page, this persona only had a resistance to electricity and was weak to wind attacks. As you can see, he is resistant to not only electricity, but to wind and ice now."

Igor placed his hand on Shinji's head. "I must tell you, lad, that Ryūjin no longer resides within the sea of your soul. Now then, it is time for Eri and I to depart." Fading out of existence, Shinji was left alone in his room. He felt a headache come on and his body suddenly felt extremely tired. Slowly and clumsily walking over to his bed, he went unconscious as soon as his head landed on his pillow.

* * *

-Present time, onboard a helicopter-

Hikari sat quietly next to Misato on one side of the helicopter, while Shinji, Kensuke and Touji sat on the other side. "Well, I thought you guys were tired of being crammed with school work and stuff, so I brought you on a date!" Kensuke and Touji looked at her incredulously. "A-a date? R-really?" Shinji and Hikari both sighed, and spoke in unison. "Where are we even headed, anyway?" They looked at one another in surprise. That, in Misato's mind, was her cue to tease them. "So, Shinji-kun is your hero now, Hikari-chan?" Hikari looked at her in shock, only to start blushing seconds later. Shinji placed his palm over his face. "Just kidding, Hikari-chan. Anyway, we're going to be taking a ride on that gorgeous cruiser down there." Hikari sighed at Misato's antics.

The helicopter landed on the cruiser, known as the "Over The Rainbow". Upon landing, Kensuke started to run around and take pictures of everything on the Over The Rainbow. Touji calmly got off the helicopter, but the wind sent his hat right off his head and he was forced to chase it. Misato got off, her hand on her neck as she noted that she was getting too old for this. Shinji, on the other hand, decided to be a gentleman. He got off the helicopter first, and he held out his hand for Hikari. Hikari took the hand as she walked off the helicopter. She smiled at him and he surprised her again. "Ladies first." He smiled and let her walk ahead.

* * *

Touji, on the other hand, was staring at his now crushed cap that was under the red flat of a young woman in a yellow sundress. "Hello, Misato! How've you been?" said the girl. Misato smiled at her. "I've been fine. How about you?" Misato looked at the girl's feet, and then move her eyes up quickly to the girl's face. "You've grown quite a bit, haven't you?" The girl looked at her confidently. "Not only am I taller, but my figure has filled out, as well." Shinji and Hikari finally caught up to Misato, and Shinji drew a blank. Misato looked back at them and patted Shinji on the head. "Let me introduce you to the pilot of Evangelion Unit-02. She's the Second Child, Asuka Langley Sohryu."

The wind suddenly lifted her dress up, but Hikari was quick enough to cover Shinji's eyes. The wind died down, and the sound of slapping rang across the cruiser. Hikari uncovered Shinji's eyes, and Shinji noticed that both Kensuke and Touji both had big, red marks on their faces. "What the hell was that for?!" asked Touji, who looked kind of angry. Asuka looked at him in an intimidating fashion. "That's the viewing fee. It's quite the bargain, don't you think?" Toji scoffed at her. "What?! You think it was worth a slap? Fine, then! I'll-" Shinji put his hand on Touji's shoulder. "Save it, Touji." The boy glared at him. "Do you really want to embarrass yourself in front of all these people?" Touji, realizing his friend was right, stood down.

* * *

Asuka walked past him, and stood several feet from Misato. "So," she asked, "which one is the infamous Third Child? I hope it's not one of the dorks I just slapped." Shinji looked at her and sighed. "He's right here." Misato said this as she had a finger pointing at him. Shinji decided to introduce himself. "Yeah, I'm the Third Child. Name's Shinji Ikari, but just call me Shinji." Asuka looked at him, disbelief in her eyes. "Really? He looks so scrawny and dull." Misato was about to retort to that when Shinji smirked. "Oh? I'm dull? Correct me if I'm wrong, but let me point some things out." Asuka stared at him as he started to talk. "If my guess is right, you wear that sundress to make yourself feel like you're mature." Misato and the rest looked taken aback by Shinji's confrontational attitude. "Also, if I'm not wrong, YOU stepped on Touji's hat, preventing him from picking it up. Therefore, when the wind lifted your dress up, it was as much your fault as it was his." Asuka's glared at him. "On one final note, you probably have your own set of psychological problems, just like I do. Based on the way you're glaring at me, I have a 95% chance of being correct."

Asuka extended her arm out to give him a slap, and just as it was about to hit him in the face, he grabbed that arm and caught it. She lifted her leg up as high as she could and tried to kick him in the face. Shinji smirked and caught the foot effortlessly. He swung the arm he had caught to the side and then flung her leg back up, causing her to lose balance and fall. Shinji deadpanned and then said, "Am I dull now, Miss Sohryu?" Asuka got back on her feet and looked ready to attack him again when the deck of the cruiser started to shake. It was a familiar shaking that both Shinji and Touji recognized.

* * *

A large, black mass crawled up onto the deck. Shinji, Touji and Hikari stared in shock. Asuka looked confused. The black mass began to change shape and grew in size until it was three times as tall as Misato. When the creature finished, it had shifted into the shape of a woman, whose skin was black on one half of her body and white on the other half. The large shadow woman wore nothing but skirt over the lower half of her body, and her hair moved itself around her, waiting to attack like a scorpion's stinger. She wore a pink mask that one would wear to a masquerade.

The woman suddenly grabbed the mask and began to change in shape once more. The hair became pure black and decreased in length as the clothing around her also changed. In its place, the woman now wore half of a yellow sundress on her white half, and clothes similar to Touji's track suit on the other half. The darker half of the face started to contort, and soon became similar to the face of a man. The white hair on the androgynous creature soon turned red, and the mask also became split in color. On the female side, it stayed pink and the Roman numeral for two appeared on it. On the male side, it had shifted to purple, and had the Roman numerals for eleven on it.

Shinji knew partially knew what was happening. Touji's shadow had apparently just appeared before him, but the shadow also seemed eerily similar to Asuka. The shadow began to speak with a female voice. **"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed. The silent voice within one's heart whispers the most profound wisdom." **The voice then became male as it continued to speak. **"I am a Shadow, the true self. I don't want to be a burden to those around me! That is why I relieve you of this burden right here, and right now!" **

Shinji thought about it and realized something. _"There was no confrontation with his inner self, but why? Maybe, it's not just one shadow, but two. Then that means...there's more than one person here who needs to face their inner self?." _ He looked to Hikari, who nodded, and the pair rushed forward. The entire crew looked watched horror, and Misato, who was worried, sighed. _"I hope they don't get hurt too badly." _Touji looked on in fear, but was barely staying conscious at this point. Asuka stared on in disbelief at the sight of two adolescents trying to fight a gigantic, androgynous creature. She looked over to Misato, who looked worried. "Misato! Tell them to get back here! There's no way they can kill that thing! Let me and Unit-02 handle this!" Misato looked over to her and sighed again. "Don't worry about them. They can handle this."

* * *

Hikari and Shinji stood 100 feet away from the creature. Focusing, blue cards surrounded by light blue fire emerged before them, and they called out in unison, "Persona!" They crushed the cards. Only one figure appeared before them: a woman with long, black hair in a dress that was pure black. Hikari then called upon the card again. "Sati! Battle form!" When she crushed the card, Sati was surrounded by a black sphere.

The sphere dissipated several seconds later and Sati appeared, her dress long gone. Instead, she was covered from neck to toe with black plate armor that looked rather heavy. The armor's size adjusted and began to shrink to that of Sati's actual body size. At this point, it looked more like a skin-tight bodysuit. Sati's eyes changed color from red to blue, and more black armor appeared. The new armor only covered Sati's mouth and nose, and the tip of the armor ended where Sati's nose began. Hikari ordered Sati to attack the shadow, and so she did. Fireballs flew at the shadow, and the battle began.

* * *

Shinji, on the other hand, was awestruck. He couldn't summon his persona. He fell to his knees in disappointment, but then, he heard a voice in his head. "You fool. You keep trying to summon a persona that no longer exists. He now resides within me. Call upon me!" Shinji blinked and looked around. The voice sighed. "I'm in your head. No one else can hear you. Hurry up and call upon my power! You already know who I am, don't you?" Shinji stood up, and energy began to encircle him as a card appeared before him, floating within a light blue flame.

Sati was sent flying into Hikari, who got knocked to the floor. Fatigue came into play at this moment as her body screamed in agony when she tried to get back up on her feet. Her vision became blurry, but she stood up nonetheless. Sati got up as well, parts of her starting to dematerialize as she did. The shadow looked at her and laughed as Sati began to dissipate completely. Falling on one knee and holding her head, all she could do was look on as the shadow approached her, ready to devour her. The shadow's arm reached out to grab her, and she knew it was the end. _"I'm sorry Kodama, Nozomi...it's all over for me now." _

She closed her eyes and awaited her death, but death did not come for her. Instead, she heard a young man shouting at the top of his lungs. "IZANAGI!" Opening her eyes, she saw Shinji crush the card before him, and the Thunder God of Creation appeared. Outstretching his right hand, lightning rained down upon the half Priestess and half Strength shadow, knocking it down. Crushing the card again, Shinji commanded Izanagi to slice the monstrosity into pieces. Spear appearing in his left hand, Izanagi charged and sliced upward, splitting the shadow's body in half. Pointing his index finger at the Priestess half of the shadow, a spear of ice appeared and impaled it.

The Priestess faded into nothingness, and Shinji turned his focus onto the Strength shadow. The Strength shadow charged at Izanagi, hopping since it could no longer walk or run. Izanagi pointed his index finger at the Strength shadow and unleashed a small blizzard, but the shadow brushed it off. Shinji dismissed Izanagi, and forced a blank card to appear before him. Calling upon Izanagi once again, the fusion circle appeared beneath his feet, and the two cards collided.

A new card appeared before Shinji, and he crushed it. A mechanical figure appeared, resembling a human with a speaker embedded into his stomach. Most of his body seemed to be mechanical, aside from his head. On his back, a large lyre hung, and Shinji felt the persona speak to him within his mind. "Thou art I, and I am thou. I am Orpheus, the Master of Strings." Orpheus grabbed his lyre and plucked several strings. A string of fireballs barraged the shadow, heavily injuring it and knocking it down. On Shinji's mental command, Orpheus unleashed a giant pillar of fire, completely disintegrating the Strength shadow.

Hikari and everyone onboard the Over The Rainbow stared in shock at what had just happened, but they were in for another surprise. A large, fish-like creature suddenly appeared from under one of the ships and devoured it whole. "Crap! Is that what I think it is?!" Asuka clumsily ran over to her precious Unit-02 and grabbed a plug suit she had placed inside her entry plug. Quickly placing it on and pressing the button on the suit around her wrist, it quickly compressed itself and she hopped into her entry plug.

Shinji stared at the shadow before him: it looked like Touji. Touji's shadow walked over to his other self and patted him on the back. **"You're not a burden, idiot."** Having said this, the shadow disappeared and a card appeared in his place. The card slowly floated down to Touji's back and disappeared, and Touji was covered by a sky blue energy. Smiling, Touji closed his eyes and fell into unconsciousness. Shinji smiled lightly, and then turned his attention to Unit-02, which was now engaging the giant sea creature.

He tried to dismiss Orpheus, but Orpheus would not dematerialize. A crack in Orpheus' face worried Shinji, and suddenly, Orpheus shattered right before his eyes. In Orpheus' place was a black figure with coffins floating behind him, attached to him by chains. The figure's face was covered by its clothing, and it wore a helmet similar to that of a skull, but with a shark's jaw instead of a human jaw. The figure roared, and spoke to Shinji in his mind. "Name's Thanatos, kid. I'll dish out death when you need me to."

* * *

More Author's Notes: Well, I hope this didn't run on for too long. Reviews are always welcome :D Like it? Hate it? Tell me.

Next chapter is Asuka v. Gaghiel. Stay tuned for epic pwning.

Also, Persona Tracker:

* * *

Shinji Ikari

Personae:

Izanagi(Bufula, Bufudyne, Zionga, Tempest Slash, Gale Slash)

Orpheus(Maragi, Ragnarok)

Thanatos(N/A)

* * *

Hikari Horaki

Persona:

Sati(Maragion)

* * *

Touji Suzuhara

Persona:  
Unknown(N/A)


	4. Death and The Days Ahead

Author's Note(s): Asuka v Gaghiel anyone? No? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter :D

Also: A persona actually talking to people is **underlined AND bold.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or any game mechanics or personae from the Persona games as they belong to Gainax and Atlus respectively.

"Death and the Days Ahead"

Unit-02 quickly inserted the power cable onboard the Over The Rainbow, and readied itself for the assault by the angel. The angel hopped out of the water and, much to Asuka's surprise, her Eva ended up inside its mouth. It began to retreat underwater, but a roar was heard. The roar caused every living being within several thousand miles to shiver in fear. The angel, Gaghiel, upon hearing the roar, fled. Shinji looked at Thanatos and decided to give a verbal command. "Thanatos, can you tear that thing in half?" The eerie-looking figure chuckled and floated down next to Shinji. Roaring, Shinji heard Thanatos speak to him in his head. "**Let me take a guess. You want me to tear that soon-to-be sushi roll into millions of pieces while saving the damsel in distress?**" Shinji facepalmed, but nodded at Thanatos.

Inside Gaghiel's mouth, Asuka was struggling to keep her unit inside the angel's mouth, and away from its stomach. She felt herself shiver for some reason, but shrugged it off. Her Eva only had 90 seconds of operational time left, and she knew she had to think fast to make it out alive. She saw a light within the creature's mouth, and that light continually grew in size until she noticed that there was a large cut within the angel's mouth. Through the cut, she saw a figure that she could describe as Death slicing the angel to bits and pieces. Teleporting inside, the figure grabbed her unit by the arm and flung the Evangelion as if it were as light as a feather. After several seconds, Unit-02 landed head-first on the deck of the Over The Rainbow.

Gaghiel could do nothing as Thanatos brutally sliced and tore it apart. Now, it was nothing but a pile of angelic flesh, which was then sliced into more pieces. As the angel began to regenerate, Thanatos grabbed its core and squeezed it hard, but not enough to shatter it. Throwing the core up, the entire angel flew up as well, and Thanatos started to slice at the core. To the human eye, it looked like Thanatos' sword hadn't moved at all, until they noticed a geyser of angelic blood starting to rocket out of the core. Thanatos' blade had sliced the angel's core over 462 times within 20 seconds. Teleporting away, Thanatos appeared next to Shinji, who looked extremely worn-out. "**Well, I'm not surprised that you're tired, kid. You've had to stand here and strain your psyche to keep the personification of death materialized.**"

The angel, in its last moments, roared, and then turned into liquid as its core shattered. Patting Shinji on the back, Thanatos dismissed himself. Collapsing, Shinji felt his consciousness drift away. Touji and Kensuke rushed over to their best friend. "Shinji, get up man!" To his right, he could somewhat see Misato helping up an exhausted Hikari. As his vision blurred, he saw someone walking to him, but all he could tell was that the person was wearing red. His eyes closed, and he could make out someone whispering to him. "...not...that dull." Before finally passing out, he felt a warm sensation on his cheek, and then, he was out like a light.

* * *

When Kozo Fuyutsuki arrived at NERV the next day, he was in for a surprise. The first, which happened to be bad news, was that Gendo Ikari was dead. The good news was that an angel attack on Unit-02 had been repelled, and the angel had been completely destroyed. Stepping into Gendo's office, he saw the corpse lying there on a stretcher. He kneeled next to the headless body and sighed. "You were a good man, Gendo. You really were, but Yui's death changed you. If only Shinji knew what you were really planning...maybe it's best for him to know. He deserves the truth, and not the front you put up to seem like a cold, heartless bastard." A team of medics appeared and placed a sheet over Gendo's body and wheeled the stretcher away. Fuyutsuki felt a pang of regret in his heart. _"If only I had argued with him about his choices...maybe this wouldn't have happened. He would've stayed a good man, but now, it's too late." _Composing himself, he slowly walked over to the room where his dead colleague's child now resided after the battle with the angel.

Shinji woke up to the sight of a certain red-head, still in her plug suit, sleeping on him and drooling on his hospital gown. Not wanting to disturb her, he pretended to sleep, but his ruse ended when Kensuke and Misato rushed into his room, Touji wheeling Hikari into the room several seconds later. The sound of a camera snapping pictures caused him to open his eyes quickly and surprise everyone who had just entered the room. "Holy crap, Shinji!" Touji's yell of surprise had woken up Asuka, who looked around, half-asleep until she saw Misato, camera in hand. "Gott verdammt! Misato!" The older woman smiled mischievously and ran for it, a still sleepy Asuka hot on her heels.

As the group of friends chatted, to Touji's dismay, about him and Hikari, a soft knock was heard on the door. Shinji promptly replied with a soft, "Who is it?" He expected it to be Dr. Akagi, but Kozo Fuyutsuki walked into the room instead, a sad smile on his face. "Ikari-kun, I have some...bad news." Shinji looked at the old man, confused. "Your father has...passed away." Shinji stared at him, unsure of what to do. "What do you mean he's passed away? Is this some sort of joke?" Kozo walked up to him and handed Shinji some keys. "This is no joke. I'm sorry, Ikari-kun." Shinji stared at him in shock. Shinji Ikari was truly alone now. Both his parents were dead, and as far as he knew, so were his grandparents. "Those keys...are used to open several drawers in his desk. Within those drawers, you'll find items he considered precious. I am sorry for your loss." Fuyutsuki left the room, and as he walked down the hallway, away from the room, he heard the enraged and pained cries of one Shinji Ikari.

* * *

The young Ikari sat in his bed, emotionless, for a month. _"Both of them are gone now. I'm all alone now..."_ A knock on his door pulled him away from his thoughts. Rei stood there, still as stoic as ever. Shinji motioned for her to come in, and she walked over to the chair by his bed. "Ikari-kun..." He just stared at her emotionlessly. "I see. I suppose now would not be the best time to give it to you." His mask started to break. "Give what to me?" She could hear the anger and pain in his voice. She turned her head slightly. _"Is this fear? Why...why am I afraid of Ikari-kun?" _She pulled a photo out from her pocket. "This was given to me by the Commander on the day of his death. He said it reminded him of everything he lost, and everything he was trying to get back. He asked me to hold on to it, as if he knew his death was approaching." Handing Shinji the picture, she saw him cringe, and, to her surprise, he began to cry. The photo was of him and his mother, Yui, and they were smiling happily in a park as he played on a swing. "Damn it, dad." Tears flowed down his face like a river. "You acted like a bastard the entire time, but this is what you were really after?" Rei felt something slide down her cheek and noticed that she was beginning to tear up. _"Why do I feel like crying? I was conditioned in such a way that I would show no signs of weakness. Yet, I feel like crying. Is this...empathy?" _She noticed something written on the back of the photo. "Ikari-kun, t-there is some text b-behind the photo." She was surprised by her own stuttering. Shinji flipped the photo and began to read. "These two are my reason for doing everything. I must always remember that." Shinji wiped the tears off his face with his arm. Rei observed him as several tears slowly streamed down her face. She noticed anger building up in his eyes, but she also saw something else. _"Is that...determination?"_

* * *

He turned to her and reached out to her. "Ayanami, will you help me walk over to his office? I want to know what else he's been keeping from me." She nodded, and helped him stand up. With Rei's help, he got in a wheelchair since his legs were weakened from having been in bed for a month. Carefully, she wheeled him over to his father's office. Upon entering, he noticed it that it wasn't as dark as he imagined it to be. Rei slowly pushed him to his father's desk. "Rei, is it okay if I do this alone?" She noticed how tightly he was gripping the keys, and nodded, exiting the room, but standing outside the door. Shinji looked at the desk and noticed each drawer had a colored lock and looked at the keys, which had colored grips. He held the red one in his hand and placed it in the red lock. Turning it, the drawer unlocked and he was able to slide it open. Within the drawer was an envelope which was for him. Taking the envelope, he opened it and found two letters. He unfolded the first one, which turned out to be from Gendo, and was written two months ago. The letter read:

"Shinji,

If you're reading this, my life, and my plans, have been cut short. At this point, you are the only remaining man of the Ikari family. I must ask of you, as the last man within our family, to save your mother. She is not dead. Unbeknownst to you, she has been trapped within Unit-01. Please, save her. If not for my sake, then do it your sister. Yes, you have a sister. Your sister has been with you this entire time. You will know who it is by looking at her and seeing similarities with your mother.

Now, there is one more thing I must ask of you. Within the drawer with the blue lock, you will find many folders and documents with data, and the true nature of NERV. Give these to Katsuragi and Ryouji. They may find these useful. Within the drawer with the green lock are special items for you. Open it whenever you feel the need to.

I'm sorry I was not a better father, but I was dedicated to my objective. My objective, as you now know, was to reunite us with Yui, but it seems I have failed. There are many other things I wish to tell you, but I will not. You will come to understand in time.

Your father and Supreme Commander of NERV,

Gendo Ikari

PS: There is a committee called SEELE who wants to destroy the world through Third Impact. I would like you to put an end to their plans."

Shinji chuckled a bit at the first letter and sighed. _"I guess you weren't such a bastard after all." _Placing the letter from Gendo on the table, he unfolded the second one. It was from his mother, Yui. It only had several sentences written on it, but some of the words had faded.

"Dear Shinji,

Do you remember that pinky promise we made during the summer? Please, don't ever forget it. Wha...er happ..s from here on, y.. will be the one to pr..ect the ...iness of all the p...le in the world. I will watch over you and pro..ct you wh..e you bring about a f..ure filled with hope. Don't forget, no matter where I am, I love you, my little ball of happiness.

With lots of love,

Yui"

* * *

"_The promise we made during the summer before she died? I don't remember." _He felt figures appear around him, and he recognized them as his personae. Izanagi looked at him and patted him on the forehead. "**You don't remember, do you?**" Orpheus floated behind him, arms crossed. "**Then let us help you remember.**" Thanatos sat on the table with a cup in his hand, and his sword sheathed. "**After all, we're different facets of you, so we remember what happened on that day.**" The personae disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, and Shinji felt his head throb with pain as memories he had forgotten quickly played in his mind. He remembered everything from his childhood which he had repressed, and then, he heard her voice. _"Never forget the promise we made. Whatever happens from here on, you will be the one to protect the happiness of all the people in the world."_

* * *

The throbbing in his head disappeared, as did the voice. Shinji placed his palm on his face. "Protect the happiness of all the people in the world..." He looked at the green key and opened the locked drawer with a green lock. Inserting the key, the drawer flung open and revealed his father's uniform, or what he thought was his father's uniform. On the uniform was a note which read, "I had a Commander's uniform made in your size, son." Taking the uniform and placing it on the desk, he saw several different sunglasses, each with unique lens colors. Beneath the sunglasses sat a pair of neatly placed white gloves. He moved the sunglasses and the gloves to find two more items: a pair of envelopes. Taking the one on the right, he opened it and noticed it was rather short. It read:

"To whom it may concern,

I, Gendo Ikari, pass on the position, Supreme Commander of NERV, to my son, Shinji Ikari, should I die.

Sincerely,

Gendo Ikari, the Supreme Commander of NERV"

Shinji sighed. "_I guess that explains why he made a uniform like his in my size." _He opened the second envelope to find something that made him question everything. Inside the envelope was a letter containing data on Rei. As he read the chart, he noted that Rei was 92% angel, and only contained 8% of his mother's genes. "_Rei is..an angel?_" He looked over to the door as it slid open and Rei looked at him, as stoic as ever.. "Is something wrong, Ikari-kun?" He gulped and steeled himself to ask the question. "Rei...you're my sister...and an angel?" Rei looked at him, and then turned her head slowly to her right, her shoulders slumping. Shinji could see the shame on her face. He chuckled awkwardly. "Don't worry. I'll do what I can to protect you, imouto." She looked straight at him, and he saw happiness cracking through her stoic exterior. "Thank you, onii-chan." He couldn't help but smile, even though he had learned so much in the past hour that made him question humanity. "Well, could you help me get over to the command center?" He closed the blue-lock drawer, and smirked. "I have an announcement to make."

* * *

NERV's Command Center wasn't as energetic as it normally was. With the death of the Commander, they were afraid that speaking badly about him would lead to being arrested or being killed on the spot. To the surprise of the bridge bunnies , Rei wheeled Shinji to the Commander's normal seat, and Shinji spoke over the microphone there. "May I have your attention, please." Everyone within the command center stopped what they were doing. "I have just been informed through a letter left by my father that, as stated here in the letter, I am to be the new Supreme Commander of NERV." The command center stared at him in shock. "Anyways, that's all I wanted to say. Well, maybe not." Aoba and Maya looked at him nervously. "I just want to say that if you want to talk about my father, go ahead. There won't be any repercussions. Aside from that, you guys get the day off unless an angel attacks. Have a good day." Rei wheeled him away and off to his hospital room while the command center was completely silent, till in a state of shock.

* * *

Several weeks later, his legs had fully recovered, and he was released from the NERV hospital. Upon arriving at home, he took a nice long shower. Things would get hectic the next day when he returned to school. He got there late, to his dismay, but was not late enough to miss his teacher talk about a transfer student. The transfer student sounded familiar, and that's when he realized it was Asuka, who just got her transfer papers approved recently via his signature. "Name's Asuka Langely Sohryu. Charmed, huh?" He slid the door open as his teacher motioned for her to sit in his seat. The class stared at him in awe. Wearing his Commander's jacket(one of twenty which he kept in his father's old closet at NERV) over his uniform shirt, and sporting his usual black slacks and uniform shoes, his classmates knew something was up. Gloved hands and purple sunglasses made him seem intimidating, which was unusual for the normally reserved and unaggressive young man. He walked over to the board and wrote down his name. "Hello, everyone. My name is Shinji Ikari. I am the new Supreme Commander of NERV." Gesturing to Rei, he continued. "In that seat is Rei Ayanami-Ikari, my sister. I hope we all get along, even though you all know me already." His classmates stared at him in shock. "NAAAANI?!"

* * *

More author's notes: Shinji taking up Gendo's role? Not really. Anyway, whether you liked or hated this, leave a review! Let me know what I can do to make it better, and what parts you would have preferred I left out.

* * *

Also, Shinji's stats have changed:

Understanding: Generous (Rank 3)

Academics: Intelligent (Rank 5)

Courage: Determined (Rank 3)

Charm: Confident (Rank 3)

* * *

And so have his social links, but most wouldn't have noticed:  
Hikari Horaki(Priestess): Rank 2 of 5

Touji Suzuhara(Strength): Rank 1 of 5

Rei Ayanami(Fortune): Rank 2 of 5

Gendo Ikari(Emperor): Max Rank!

Yui Ikari(Empress): Rank 2 of 5

Misato Katsuragi(Justice): Rank 2 of 5

Kensuke Aida(Magician): Rank 2 of 5

Asuka Langley Sohry(Lovers): Rank 1 of 5

* * *

And personae tracker:  
Shinji - Izanagi(Fool), Orpheus(Fool), Thanatos(Death)

Touji - Currently unknown

Hikari - Sati(Priestess)


End file.
